MTG Salvation

I recently got back into Commander after having been away for several months due to heavy work demand. During that time, the only Magic I got in was some prereleases and buying packs to do sealed stuff with my wife. I hadn't incorporated any new cards into any of my decks since Aether Revolt and hadn't even cracked open the boxes for last year's Commander decks. Needless to say, I've been having fun digging through all that stuff and updating decks.

While doing so, I was wondering if anyone has found any cards that were surprisingly good from the most recent two sets. I'm not talking about stuff like Growing Rites of Itilimoc or The Immortal Sun, which are obviously good in a lot of EDH decks, at least for us less competitively-minded players. I'm more interested in cards that aren't obvious all-stars, but which play a strong role in one or more of your decks.

One card I rather like is Pitiless Plunderer. I am not too impressed with most of the treasure-token generators, but the Plunderer has already done well in a couple decks - Alesha and Meren - that are built around my critters dying often. Repeatedly getting mana that sticks around until you need it, just from the deck doing what it is built to do, has turned out to be pretty good in the couple games when I've gotten the Plunderer into play. He's just a support card, but the extra mana he generates helps both decks run more smoothly when he is around.

Actually, Alesha has probably benefited more from this set than any of my other decks so far. As I've been updating it, I swapped in the Plunderer, Ravenous Chupacabra (unconditional kill spell on a creature, big upgrade from Big Game Hunter) and Dire Fleet Daredevil, all from Rivals, as well as Restoration Specialist from Aether Revolt (to get back good stuff opponents blow up).

So, what little stuff are the rest of you liking from these sets?

I don't know if this one is particularly surprising in its goodness or not but I haven't seen a whole lot of talk around it so do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Sunbird's Invocation?

All the cards that transform into lands have been really excellent in my opinion.

Let's see.

As said Ravenous Chupacabra has a simple and strong effect at a decent price. Best in decks that can flicker, reanimate or copy it, of course. Got one for Alesha, Who Smiles at Death and will certainly need a second copy for Gonti, Lord of Luxury. Slaughter the Strong is another great card for Alesha, Who Smiles at Death. Mana efficient force-sac that'll allow a commander activation afterwards most of the times.

I'm considering picking up Flood of Recollection for Talrand, Sky Summoner. Despite the exile clause it might be great to have a third Relearn/Call to Mind effect for just UU. Expel from Orazca is tempting for that deck as well. With usually at least 6 permanents as it resolves it isn't a big jump to have the city's blessing. On the other hand Chart a Course falls just a tad short, as it requires attacking and only being sorcery speed.

I'm still a bit hesitant, but Rile could be an option for Zada, Hedron Grinder, even at sorcery speed while requiring some buff for the tokens the deck works with.

Mist-Cloaked Herald and Siren Stormtamer are auto-includes for Edric, Spymaster of Trest.

While there are a billion great options to pick from for Brago, King Eternal, Roon of the Hidden Realm and the likes Riverwise Augur as a Brainstorm on a stick is still a good, yet casual, roleplayer. Ixalan's Binding is too, for anyone who isn't concerned about returning threats.

Blinding Fog made for some awesome plays in my Ezuri, Renegade Leader deck, especially hosing R board wipes.

Radiant Destiny works very well with any sort of tribal deck. Odric, Master Tactian soldier tribal has virtually no trouble getting the city's blessing with all its token generators and can certainly profit from bigger soldiers with vigilance.

While being a reprint, Hijack is doing a decent job in a friends Brion Stoutarm deck. He hijacked a tapped Nevinyrral's Disk once to blast it off after casting his Boros Charm. Durdly EDH at its best!

The planeswalkers from the planeswalkers decks are usually pretty meh, but i'm sure there are decks that can profit a lot from Jace, Ingenious Mind-Mage's untap.

ps. I really like your card selection for Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, you don't happen to have a decklist online somewhere?

Quote from NoNeedToBragoBoutIt »

ps. I really like your card selection for Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, you don't happen to have a decklist online somewhere?

Thank you. All of my current decks (and a couple of my wife's) are posted on DeckBox, same username I have here. Here's Alesha.
https://deckbox.org/sets/931161

I am also considering slotting Hope of Ghirapur into Alesha.

Note: Good catch on Rile/Zada. There are plenty of other trample-enablers, but the cantrip ones are primo. Too bad so few of the red instant combat pumps provide a toughness boost. Worth considering, but cautious.

Etali, Primal Storm seems good for Maelstrom wanderer (and obviously Sunbird's Invocation)

Tendershoot Dryad seems like a huge upgrade on Verdant Force.

I think I'll play Vona's Hunger in my monoblack control.

Arch of Orazca will probably replace Sea Gate Wreckage in a lot of decks.
Thrashing Brontodon is an option that compares to Caustic Caterpillar.

Sorcerous spyglass should see some generic play. Pithing Needle is probably better most of the time, but spyglass is pretty good.

Tocatli Honor Guard is a second Torpor orb. Would love to Chord of calling for it in response to a Craterhoof.

Raiders' wake will go into any Megrim decks.

I'll be honest, I haven't had a chance to play much recently, but there are some bits I've picked up from Ixalan block.

- This block has more or less singlehandedly made low curve Edgar Markov a thing.
- Ravenous Chupacabra is a solid add for a lot of decks. I'd like at least a couple of copies.
- Vona's Hunger is strong. I'd like a copy for Thraximundar.

Things I'm curious as to feedback for:
- I'd really like to hear feedback re Path of Discovery - it could be awesome in Ghave, or it could be underwhelming. I need to playtest, but if there's someone out there who already has it might save me a buck or two.
- Settle the Wreckage seems really versatile - worst case scenario it's possible to swing with white weenies or tokens and exile them for self ramp.
- Thaumatic Compass seems to be the kind of card that could help ramp slow to start decks like mono white and mono black. It could be underwhelming though.

It's very narrow and high-risk, but Form of the Dinosaur is hilarious in my Tamanoa enrage deck. While it is pretty bad under normal circumstances, with Tamanoa out it (and possibly some other way to deal damage after casting it so you don't have to sit around on 15 life until your next upkeep), it is wonderful. You get to kill one thing each turn, and you get the life before the creature deals damage to you.

As far as I've seen, Path of Discovery is amazing in my Ghave deck. It provides you with a steady stream of card/board advantage and its interactions with all the moving parts of Ghave is just absurd. Even a little Animation Module goes a long way with it. Also, Ghave takes full advantage of it, using the counters to create token who explore some more. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for the feedback! I've already added it. With a reanimation subtheme, it should be really versatile. The idea is to filter for lands, add counters where needed (Spike Weaver etc), and bury decent reanimation targets in the yard as needed. It should do everything I need it to. Slightly more expensive to cast than Hardened Scales, but far more interactive in my build, and far less redundant. The fact that it triggers whenever a creature ETBs for you is crazy in Ghave too. I haven't playtested yet, but it's nice to know my instincts were good in this case.

I'm having fun with a lot of cards from Ixalan block.

From Ixalan, cards that have made it into my decks have been Angrath's Marauders, Boneyard Parley, Chart a Course, Fleet Swallower, Growing Rites of Itlimoc, Herald of Secret Streams, Jace, Ingenious Mind-Mage, Primal Amulet, Prosperour Pirates, Raiders' Wake, Shapers of Nature, Tishana, Voice of Thunder, Vanquisher's Banner, Vona, Butcher of Magan, Verdant Sun's Avatar, and a host of Vampires into and Edgar Markov deck that I am building. Cards that I want to find a home for but just haven't are Captivating Crew, Hostage Taker, River's Rebuke, Settle the Wreckage, Sunbird's Invocation. Of these, the standouts have been Growing Rites of Itlimoc (for obvious reasons), Primal Amulet (has been fantastic in any deck that runs a sufficient number of Instants/Sorceries worth copying), and Vanquisher's Banner (which is quite amazing in any tribal deck).

From Rivals of Ixalan, cards that have made it into my decks have been Angrath, the Flame-Chained, Azor, the Lawbringer, Azor's Gateway, Hadana's Climb, Path of Discovery, Pitiless Plunderer, Riverwise Augur, Tendershoot Dryad, The Immortal Sun, Tilonalli's Summoner, Twilight Prophet, Vona's Hunger, and Wayward Swordtooth . Cards that I want to find a home for are Brass's Bounty, Crafty Cutpurse, Etali, Primal Storm, Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca, Nezahal, Primal Tide, Profane Procession, and Storm the Vault. Of these, the standouts have been Azor's Gateway (much more useful unflipped that I initially thought and amazing once flipped), Path of Discovery (I'm not a fan of Explore because of the creatures the ability is stapled to all kinda suck, but getting Explore tacked onto all of the good creatures I already run is pretty amazing), and Twilight Prophet (needs to spend a little time in play, but you get so much value if it lives for any amount of time).

So yeah, both sets have lots of goodies that are amazing in certain decks, a good number of cards that are awesome in any deck that can support them, and lots of goodies to try and build around if you can.